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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (36444)	1/18/2001 7:00:44 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Shares of Microsoft Corp. jumped 5 percent in after-hours trading Thursday after the software giant met analysts' reduced expectations. The stock boost occurred even as Microsoft also warned that it would fall short of third-quarter forecasts and issued a cautious outlook about near-term results. Microsoft said Thursday it had net income of $2.62 billion, or 47 cents per share, on revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31. For the same period last year, it reported profits of $2.44 billion, or 44 cents per share, on $6.11 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson had expected second-quarter earnings of 47 cents per share, down from earlier estimates of 49 cents. Estimates were lowered after the Redmond, Wash.-based company warned in December that it expected earnings to be down 5 or 6 percent from earlier expectations because of slumping PC sales. Initial reaction by investors was positive, however, with Microsoft share prices jumping to $58.13 after finishing regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market at $58.63, up $3. "Revenue came in a little higher than we had anticipated, so we were pleased with the performance to close the quarter," said Microsoft chief financial officer John Connors. Microsoft, however, is retaining a cautious outlook over the next few months, Connors said. The company reduced third-quarter expectations to 42 or 43 cents per share; analysts had been expecting 44 cents per share. It said it expects revenue to be in the range of $25.2 billion to $25.4 billion, and earnings per share to be in the range of $1.80 to $1.82, right where analysts were predicting. "The largest uncertainty is just the general state of the United States, and therefore the world economy and what that means for PC demand and technology spending in general," he said. Steve Kleynhans, an analyst with technology consulting firm Meta Group in Stamford, Conn., said there were few surprises in the report, since "retail sales of PCs weren't exactly barn-burners for the last quarter of last year." For the six months ended Dec. 31, Microsoft had profits of $4.83 billion or 87 cents per share on revenues of $12.39 billion. In the year-ago period, it earned $4.63 billion or 84 cents per share on revenues of $11.50 billion.